AER adopts its position on cohesion policy

The AER’s Summer Bureau meeting took place in Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria (AT), on 1 June 2017 to debate the future EU cohesion policy beyond 2020.

At the meeting, AER Bureau members adopted a position on cohesion policy post 2020, setting out AER’s views and recommendations for the forthcoming policy reform.

The position calls for a strong renewed cohesion policy for all regions. Emphasising the added value of Europe’s largest investment policy, it notes that an effective cohesion policy will be essential if the EU is to successfully address the challenges confronting Europe today and deliver the results for a greater economic, social and territorial cohesion beyond 2020.

By this text, AER underlines that the high level of ambition for the future cohesion policy must be matched by adequate financing. It further stresses that in order to ensure an inclusive and sustainable growth that reduces disparities between EU regions and delivers for the EU and its citizens, the future cohesion policy instruments and delivery mechanisms must allow for greater simplification, flexibility and predictable funding.

Acknowledging that regional authorities will continue to be crucial in making economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU a reality, the position reiterates that regional authorities’ engagement in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the future cohesion policy must be enhanced by putting in place genuine partnership mechanisms, on the basis of a multilevel governance approach.

The position was drafted by a Task Force led by Mr Michiel Rijsberman (Flevoland – NL) and is the result of an extensive consultation with AER members, through questionnaires and meetings. It will serve as a background for AER’s advocacy work towards European institutions on the future of cohesion policy beyond 2020.